Intuitive Eating is one of the most supportive ways of eating for our physical and emotional health according to research. Although the term was first used in 1995, today it is more relevant than ever as scientific evidence proves that this way of eating can become a protective shield against the increasing threat of eating disorders.
American nutritionists Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Rech were the first to use the term in their book “Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works”. As they have repeatedly emphasized in their interviews, they did not want to claim the intellectual property of the term “intuitive eating” because they wanted it freely used by anyone who would like to talk about or adopt the way of eating guided by our body and our instincts. In their book, they describe the 10 basic principles of intuitive eating.
But why does intuitive eating need principles?
Anyone could wonder. It would make sense that feeding your body according to its needs and the hunger or satiety signals it sends needs no principles, labels, definitions, or rules. So, why do we even talk about the principles of intuitive eating?
For a person who has never been concerned about their weight or has never tried to control their weight in any way, for someone who only eats when they are hungry and stops when they are full and has been like that for as long as they can remember, for those who have a fixed eating pattern and do not make significant changes based on trends, friends’ habits or advice from non-experts, the principles of intuitive eating are obviously meaningless. After all, they were not made for them. They were created for those who, using one of the above ways or all of them, disturbed their instinctive relationship with food and along the way “forgot” how to let their body participate in the natural process of feeding.
Who will benefit the most from Intuitive Eating?
There are certain people who would find the principles of intuitive eating really useful and transformative, if applied correctly. Intuitive eating seems highly beneficial for:
- People who have tried multiple restrictive diets in the past.
- People who often resort to emotional eating.
- People who have their own “moral” guide of good & bad foods and only eat according to this guide.
- People who have forgotten how hunger and fullness actually feel like.
- People who are fed up with repetitive diets and conflicting nutrition advice.
- People with disordered eating behaviors such as binge eating or symptoms of orthorexia (obsession with healthy eating).
How do I apply the principles of Intuitive Eating?
If you see yourself in any of the above situations, you might want to try it. But how do you start intuitive eating? Let’s have a look at the meaning and significance of the principles of intuitive eating, and at how you can actually apply them.
1. Reject the diet mentality
Perhaps the most important principle and the first step you must take if you really want to adopt intuitive eating. Restrictions, eating according to instructions and regimens, and searching for the ideal diet that will lead you to your target weight cannot coexist with intuitive eating. This first fundamental step essentially translates into a difficult but necessary change in your mindset:
Stop wanting to lose weight.
2. Honor your hunger
During one or more of your past diets, there have probably been times when you left your hunger unsatisfied in order to conform to the hours and meals of your diet. But in order to become able to trust your body’s hunger signals again, you have to learn to respond to them when they appear. In addition, letting the feeling of hunger intensify and reach extreme levels at the moment you start your meal would destroy any attempt at a balanced diet. Who can listen to their body when they are famished? So, to put it simply:
When you’re hungry, eat.
3. Make peace with food
Another equally important step and perhaps the most difficult one on the path of intuitive eating. Most people who are deeply influenced by diet culture are unable to allow themselves to eat for fear of being mathematically driven to overeating or binge eating. They are in a constant battle with food. And they must declare a truce immediately. It’s time to realize that food is not the enemy and remember that it is one of your basic needs.
Give yourself permission to eat.
4. Challenge the food police
If you’re constantly criticizing yourself for the “bad” foods you eat and rewarding yourself for the “good” ones, it’s time to merge your two imaginary food categories into one. There are no good and bad foods but just… food. And yes, your objection that not all foods are created equal is valid. But now is not the time to choose foods based on their nutritional value because your judgment is clouded by diet culture and probably by conflicting misinformation. Food choices for your nutrition and health will concern you much later when food, in your mind, will have successfully been decriminalized. So, once again…
There are no “bad” and “good” foods.
5. Discover the satisfaction factor
I know what you’re going to think. “But isn’t that the reason I am where I am? The fact that I want to really enjoy the foods I like?” The pleasure of eating is not only related to our taste buds and the feeling of satiety. The eating experience should involve all the senses. Your food should be enjoyed in a place where you feel comfortable, it should be enticing to your eyes, it should awaken your sense of smell and it should have a pleasant texture, temperature and even quantity. And of course, it is almost certain that due to the “policing” of your food, you have given up many of your favorite tastes. So, it’s time to remember what pleasure in eating means to you.
Enjoy the eating experience.
6. Feel your fullness
Just as you ignored the feeling of hunger during periods of dieting, you probably did the same with the feeling of fullness during episodes of overeating. To be able to regain both, you need to eat not only intuitively but also mindfully. Mindful eating is a prerequisite for Intuitive eating. You need to relearn how to eat mindfully so that you are aware of the signals your body sends you when you are full. If you eat in front of screens, while working or while your attention is focused elsewhere, you will ignore the signs of fullness and not remember how to recognize them.
Start eating mindfully.
7. Cope with your emotions with kindness
Most people who struggle with eating control have resorted to emotional eating at some point in their lives. During your intuitive eating journey, you will need to deal with your emotions at some point. If you used to avoid this by using food as a distraction until now, you will need to deal a little more with how you feel. Recognize your emotions, give them a name, and start managing them. And do it with the same love and kindness that you would show if those feelings were experienced by a person you love.
Be your own best friend and let yourself feel your emotions.
8. Respect your body
For years you have been trying to change how your body looks. And it might not be a bad thing to want to get a healthier and stronger body, but when your motivation is based on idealized standards and unrealistic expectations, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. You have to accept your body in order to improve it. And see it for what it really is: your “vehicle” for anything you want to experience in this life.
Respect your body and be grateful for what it can offer you.
9. Movement – Feel the difference
Exercise is not a means to “burn off” what you ate. Or a way to fit into those jeans that don’t fit you anymore. And if until now you only considered exercise to be something that happens in a gym, an activity that makes you sweat and lowers the number on the scale, it’s time to reconsider. Physical exercise should be something you want to do because it feels good. Find activities you enjoy and make exercise a favorite habit, not a way to lose weight.
Find a type of exercise you love and stick to it.
10. Honor your health – Gentle nutrition
This is the last step of intuitive eating. It is the one that will concern you when you have mastered all the previous ones. Because only then, when the “policing” of food is a thing of the past, you will be able to realize that a healthy diet is all about balance. Just as a salad cannot make you slim on its own, neither can a piece of cake make you fat by itself. Moderation and satisfaction of all your needs related to food, physical and emotional, can lead you to a balanced and healthy relationship with eating and foods. At this point of your intuitive eating journey you will be able to educate yourself nutritionally and make the food choices that will support your own health and your own unique needs.
Make gentle, balanced nutrition a lifestyle habit.
Resources
https://www.intuitiveeating.org/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40519-020-00852-4
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.08.014
